Head-free rail joint



v May 30, 1939. l H. L; LANSING d Aug. 26, 19:57

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented May 30, 1939 PATENT OFFICE 2,160,334 HEAD-FREE RAIL JOINT Horace L. Lansing, Rutherford, N. J., assignor to Poor & Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application August 26, 1937, Serial No. 161,131

1 Claim.

This invention relates to rail joints, particularly headfree rail joints in which the splice bars have loading engagement at their upper, inner corners-with the head fillets of the rails and 5 clearance at their tops from the under sides of the rail heads, and has generally in View to improve such joints to the end of materially ncreasing their life and of maintaining the same tightness and the rail endshigh over long periods of time without the necessity of tightening the joint bolts.

With the foregoing general purposes in View,

the invention consists in the novel splice bar construction, and in the novel combination and arrangement of features in a headfree joint, as

will be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and dened in the appended claim.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein like characters of reference denote corresponding parts in the different views:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a headfree rail joint embodying the features of the invention.

Figures 2 and 3 are horizontal sectional views respectively showing successive stages in the construction of the joint,

v Figures 4 and 5 are cross sections on the lines 4 4 and 5 5, respectively of Fig. 2; land Figure 6 is a cross section on the line 6 6 of Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawings in detail, R, R, designate the meeting end portions of a pair of rails, each including, as usual, a head l0, a web Il and a base I2; B designates the present splice bar including, as usual, a head i3, a web I4 and a base I5, and C designates joint bolts for drawing said splice bar into engagement with said rails.

The splice bar B is of the headfree type having its head I3 formed to take loading engagement at its upper, inner, rounded corner with the head fillets I6 of the rails R, R and to have clearance from the under sides of the rail heads, and in accordance with the invention the upper, inner corner of the head of said bar may be formed to take loading engagem-ent with the head fillets of the rails either throughout the length of the bar, or only medially and at the ends of the ends of the bar with clearance spaces therebetween, as indicated by the dotted lines at the head of the bar as shown in vFigure 1 of the drawings, in accordance with known practice and for known reasons. In either case and in accordance with the present invention, the medial portion of upper, inner, rounded corner of the bar is overfilled by any suitable amount, as indicated at l1 (Cl. 23S-243) and as compared with the corresponding corners at the ends of the bar, so that, in the normal, straight condition of the bar, the said medial portion of its upper, inner, rounded corner extends v inwardly beyond the corresponding corners at 5 the ends of the bar. Thus, in the initial application of the bar to the joint, the medial portion of the upper, inner, rounded corner of the bar takes loading engagement with the head fillets of the railsadjacent to the ends of the latter, or, 10 in other words, within the zone of greatest joint Wear, and theupper, inner, rounded corn-ers of the bar at its ends are spaced from the head fillets of the rails, as illustrated in Fig. 2. However, in the finally applied position of the bar, 15 effected by tightening of the joint bolts and by drawing of the ends of the bar inwardly, the upper, inner, rounded corners of the bar at its ends also are caused to take loading engagement with the head fillets of the rails so that the joint is 20 made tight both at its ends as well as medially thereof.

Because of the overfill l'l it is necessary to spring the ends of the bar inwardly to bring its upper, inner corners at its ends into loading engagement 25 with the head fillets of the rails, and because of this inward springing of the ends of the bar the bar is energized to exert an inward force at its middle effective to maintain the medial portion of its upper, inner corner in loading engagement 30 with the head fillets of the rails at the ends of the latter until wear medially of the joint occurs to an extent to permit the bar to assume its normal, straight condition. The condition of the joint then corresponds to, or approximates, the initial condition of an ordinary headfree joint in which the medial portion of the upper, inner corner of the splice bar is not overfilled. It is apparent, therefore, that the overll Il not only provides for materially increased life of head- 40 free joints because of the amount of metal represented by said overfill which must be worn away before the joint approximates the unworn condition of an ordinary headfree joint, but provides also for maintaining the joint tight over 45 vlong periods of time without the necessity of tightening of the joint bolts, since, as aforesaid, the inward springing of the ends of the bar required to establish the finally applied position of the bar energizes the bar so that it tends constantly to move inwardly at its middle to compensate for wear until wear equivalent to the amount of the overfill takes place. Moreover, the present overilll I1 assures a well fitting joint es- 55 pecially in the vital, medial zone of the joint and the advantages inherent to such Well iitting.

Without further description it is thought that the features and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and it will of course be understood that changes in the form, proportion and minor details of construction may be resorted to, Without departing from the spirit of the invention and scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

A rail joint structure including the rails and a headfree type splice bar having clearance from the underside of the rail heads and a anged 4foot overlying and bearing upon the rail anges at a distance outward from the base fillets of the rails, the head of the splice bar having the medial portion of its upper inner corner provided with a localized overll of metal projecting inwardly a distance beyond the plane of the remainder of the upper inner corner of the bar head and adapted to have loading engagement with the head fillets of both rails at the center of the joint, and bolting means for iiexing the end portions of the bar into loading engagement with the head fillets of the respective rails.

HORACE L. LANSING. 

